Sunflower Seeds in Schiphol

I thought of my trip to Syria would become special when I saw this:

I and the rest of the passengers traveling to Syria were waiting for the call to board the airplane. I looked opposite me to the right a caught my attention the silver with black plastic seat; the whole floor around and underneath the seat was covered with the remains of sunflower seeds. It was early in the morning, I was not happy with the fact that it was so early and no cleaning was done in an international airport like Schiphol! I turned my full attention again to the book I just bought from the airport (the story of Google), but the dirty empty chair was intriguing me, so I kept looking at the piles of sunflower seeds shells every few seconds. Another two minutes or three passed before I saw a man walking passing me and have a seat on the same chair. He was a man in his late forties, wearing light brown sandals, a brownish jacket, and a milky blue trousers (what color was it? I don’t know anymore whether these trousers were so dirty that I thought of its color blue turned to milky?). His look was of a very careless man, someone who looks too lazy even to reach out for his hand bag that was put on the floor. To my astonishment I figured out the puzzle: that man was taking sunflower seeds out of his jacket pockets, put into his mouth, crack them with his front teeth, and spit the shells out carelessly to the floor – even some of these remains were stuck on his shirt and jacket collars.

It was one of the two: that man was so bored to care or he was too nervous; because the moment all passengers were called to go to the airplane, he jumped up from his chair and went in a turbo speed of light towards the gate.

Syria in 2008

This is not my first trip to Syria; I have relatives living in the north of the country, in the coastal city of Lattakia. One thing I cannot argue about Syria in general is the beauty of this country, with its different elevations; green vast areas to the north stretching to the border with Turkey and along the coast line; huge desert to the east that reaches the western borders with Iraq, and the various hills and rocky areas to the south of the capital Damascus.

In addition, no one can ignore how this country is one of the richest countries with its historic heritage spread in different areas and provinces. However, travelers can notice the economic hardship, which made it difficult for the country to rise among the most top tourist places in the world. Economic difficulties in the country obviously made its painful impact on its people, especially on this trip, this time, with prices risen triple in a very short time. There is an obvious gap between the poor and the rich (look at the cars on the streets and the models people drive). Compare this one to previous visits I could see improvements in some aspects of life for the ordinary people, but the pace of such improvement is extremely slow. The streets of Lattakia are cleaner than before; Police men are more into their work in organizing traffic on the streets, especially during traffic jams - different from the past experiences when a policeman stops you for no reason and end up putting some money in his hand while arguing to get rid of him. Ah, I almost forget, the police force there is very serious on stopping car drivers and fine them if they were found without seat belts on; a lot of housing projects with very beautiful design have been built; ATM machines in cities became more common, maybe not for all people, but I saw people queuing to get their money from one machine on one of the main streets in Lattakia. However, there is one thing that did not change since my first visit to this city: the look on the faces of salesmen when a stranger like me enters a shop. It requires some long 10 minutes to finally make that salesman/woman smile and give an impression of loosing tension! This became a common thing to me, it bothered me before, especially that there are some shop owners or workers or salesmen who really need some lessons on how to do marketing and how to deal with the client or the customer. Yet, this doesn’t mean that people there are not friendly; on the contrary, they are very friendly and help foreigners when they see one in need.

Anyway, upon arrival I didn’t stay in the capital Damascus except for a couple of hours, visited some friends and proceeded to Lattakia at around 10PM – arrived around 2AM there. This time I decided to rent a car and not depend on taxis while I am in the city, or call the usual taxi agency to take me to other places. I rented a Peugeot 206, which I think it was an Iranian version of that model in the market. I proved those people wrong, those who told me that it is impossible for a person who lives in Europe to drive in Syria. It was indeed challenging, though, in a sense, learning the “snake-method” of driving through cars like the taxi drivers, for example: there is no discipline with road-lanes, suddenly you notice a small yellow taxi (mostly are two cylindered-motors Daewoo model) slowly like a snake moving through in the middle and cut the street to the other lane. Traffic jam in the different main areas in the city of course is horrible, and when this happen some chaotic symphony starts; played by drivers blowing their cars horns from all directions.

Religion is irrelevant in Syria, not meaning in the negative sense of the word, but Syria is free from committing its people into complying with the rules of the majority i.e. Muslims. I heard that people get jailed in United Arab Emirates if they were caught smoking in their cars during Ramadan! This was not the case in Syria. I could see Syria like “old” Iraq regarding the diversity of its population; consists of many and many ethnic and religious groups. In Lattakia and its surroundings, there are the major Sunni groups, there is also a big Christian community located in certain neighborhoods, such as “The Americani” neighborhood (very beautiful neighborhood). There are also other religious groups, like the Druz, al Murshediyah (link in Arabic), and the Alawyeen communities – the latter compose the majority of the population living in villages and little towns surrounding Lattakia and their presence stretches further to the north of the country and across the borders inside Turkey. For that reason, one can see when going out those who wear traditional custom, such as men with the turban or the typical Shami large trousers, and the opposite to that can also be observed: there are those who are obsessed with the latest hype in fashion and mode, such as girls wearing 12cm high heel shoes and tight jeans. I was delighted to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan while I was there. However, I was astonished to find out that there were a number of shops open in the main market, but I was more surprised to see restaurants open and people can drink or eat (or smoking a cigarette) during the day. Not all the shops are open in Ramadan, though, but the peak in the market usually begins after the Iftar (sunset time) where walking or driving around becomes almost extremely difficult.

Another thing NO one can argue about Syria is the Food, especially starters (or what is called Mezza), such as Tabouleh, Homous, Kibbe, Babaghanoush, Kibbe Nayye, Shanklish, Fattoush, Soujouk …etc Still, all the above would not be compare to the delicious mixed grills they have in their restaurants. By the way, I never noticed that Pepsi became available until this visit to Syria, I might be wrong, but I remember that only local-soft drinks allowed to be sold in shops. In addition, I was surprised to see Pepsi became an official sponsor of a number of local TV shows.

Speaking of TV and the media, to me it was more than obvious the level of bad relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia has reached (especially on private Syrian channels like Dunya TV). That was one direction the media is focusing on daily. Another focus by the media is something regularly been taken care of: the relationship with Lebanon. I was in Syria when French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, visited the country, and how the media kept on for days full coverage on every event and every aspect of that visit – I was surprised, though, and still is, when I didn’t see the Syrian president receiving his guest at Damascus airport. Instead it was the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Muallem who was waiting for the French president at the end of the airplane-stairs. Speaking of the media leads to talk about the internet: the Internet in Syria is censored heavily by the government. Internet café is the only place where I could get reasonable internet speed. These internet café is not limited to boys or men only, I have been to internet café’s where young girls and women either browsing the World Wide Web, or talking to their relatives using mic and webcams, or search and apply for jobs. By the way, there are internet services for home users available and offered by the main telecommunication companies over there, but it is very expensive for ordinary people apart from the fact that it is extremely slow and not reliable.

Like on every visit, I won’t let a chance without going to one of my favorite places in Syria, Slenfeh. It is a tourist location, approximately 45 minutes drive north of Lattakia. Some considered it as the highest location in all Syria where nature and fun are combined together. The tourist complexes over there did not change that much since last visit, but Slenfeh is expanding rapidly because of the new villas and vacation-apartments been built in different places on the edges of the mountains there. Many people go to this place because many consider it as an escape pod from the bloody heat and humidity in Lattakia. The prices of goods and costs of food at restaurants in Slenfeh are much higher than in any other place – funny that there are much cheaper restaurants on the outskirts of Slenfeh!

That trip provided me with many aspects of relaxation: I needed change; those who know me personally can confirm how much a hard working person like me deserved some time off from everything related to my daily life. I managed to have long hours sleep, very long hours – I can’t recall when was the last time in my life I did sleep for so long. In addition, going out in the evening and stay late at café’s was also fun, drinking Arabic coffee while modern and classic Arabic is playing in the background – some of café’s and restaurants owners took advantage of some TV shows or movies by putting pictures and posters of their favorite celebrities

I wondered a number of times if it was worth staying longer in Syria, not thinking of how many days I can take days off from work, but I thought that the time I spent there was justified. I came back from Syria three weeks ago. I got a cold immediately one day after arrival, I am recovering, but very slow, I think it also has to do with the change in weather here? Well, maybe this is true, especially that summer did not visit the low lands this year.

Plamyra

Renting a car provided me with the opportunity to seek further into exploring Syria rather than traveling to places around Lattakia. In fact I wanted to travel to Lebanon, but at the last moment the decision was made to go to the ancient city of Palmyra. Took the family and departed around 7AM. Driving, seeing board signs saying “Lebanon” was tempting. I was joking with the rest with me if we would change plans and go to Lebanon, they were thrilled about it, but after a little last minute discussions before the crossings we decided to stick to the plan, and continue the way to Homs and from there to Palmyra. The road was well paved, and the trip took 3 and a half hours till I saw the city emerging out on the horizon. The first thing to I saw was the high hill and the old castle on the top of it. At that point it was to me a sort of an awkward moment; when I saw the sign on the road pointing straight forward and on it written “Iraq”, beneath it “260 KM”. I was almost 2 hours from Iraq! I kept on driving, following the signs to Palmyra which goes around the huge hill before I could see the town beneath and the ancient city on my right side.

We were tired and hungry, and it was almost 12 midday, so we decided to find the good restaurant we have been told to go to, Bab-tedmur, which was on the other end of the ancient city. This means that we had to drive through the old city on a very clean and very rough road: the road was paved with small gray hard rocks to slow down drivers.

Bab-tedmur is a hotel and a restaurant. When we arrived, an old tall-thin man wearing a black head-of-waiters suit welcomed us. He showed us the way to the huge main hall that was decorated so simply and beautifully with wooden graphics and semi-luxurious curtains, and had air-conditioning systems spread in different corners and spots. The waiter told us about a meze buffet to be opened in 15 minutes, and that we can order the food at anytime. We ordered coffee first and asked to bring the food later, the old waiter then told us about the event of his life: after 10 years marriage he and his wife have finally their first baby boy. He showed us a picture of the baby from his mobile phone. The coffee came and while drinking the electricity went off. According to the waiter, this was the 5’Th time on the same day. While waiting for the food, and with no electricity – they switched on a power-generator to continue their work; I went outside and had a walk around the compound. The owners of the restaurant seem to construct one side of their property and turned it into a sort of a corral or a pen. They divided it into three sections separated by barbed-wired walls; in one of them they put a big Ostrich and a number of chickens. In the other section I saw some deer’s, where the third section had a couple of ducks and gooses.

I went back inside and saw the meze buffet has just been open for guests. By that time a big number of tourists entered the restaurant in groups – like they were in one bus? from European countries, such as Spain, Italy and the UK, and others from Asian countries, like Korea (that was a huge group). Our order arrived afterwards, Mansaf, which is a big dish divided into two; one with rise on it chicken pieces, and the other had Freekeh where big lamb meat chops on it. The food was not fresh, like it has been only warmed up from a previous day. After lunch and re-energize we headed back to the ancient city and started with the Temple of Bel.

The temple is like a panorama of different religious rituals and belief. Romans, Greeks, Muslims, Persians, Early Christians, French occupation…etc all passed by or conquered this city and left their mark on its temple. Our tourist guide was a big man in his late fifties with a slightly big belly, wearing glasses and a white cap to protect him from the sun. His polite manners in addressing us were admirable, and his story telling deserves a big compliment. I liked his method of telling us about the history of Palmyra; he uses a small piece of a mirror, uses the reflection of the sun into the mirror to point to the different rocks, walls, gates, and other objects.

He told us about how the temple was built, how Palmyra was ravaged with many disasters put upon it and caused by both man and nature (including earthquakes). When the visit to the temple was completed we asked him to continue the tour to include the rest of the city. At the gate of the temple of Bel we were confronted with a number of young and old men carrying goods and man-made products for sale. We also came across a couple of young men who offered us to ride the camel for a fee. We declined both and it took us a lot of effort to convince them that we don’t want anything.

We went to the Colonnade and the main gate of the ancient city, parked the car there and started our second part of the tour. I didn’t know that the main street was not made for pedestrians; instead it was made for cattle and men riding camels or horses. Pedestrian uses the narrow streets on each side of the main street, which was covered on the old times above to protect people from the rain and burning sun. We have seen the remains of many places like the summer and winter swimming place for queen of Palmyra, Zenobia; the main trade spot in the market where south tribes and carnivals used to meet with merchants and other travelers coming from the north; we saw how the people of Palmyra used what was considered very advanced technology to drain rain water into specific holes made for that purpose…etc

Before the end of the main street of Palmyra, the guide asked us to follow him to the left side where we came across a huge long and rounded wall, we entered through the main door, a guard was sitting there watching blur pictures from the little TV he has. We paid for entrance and the guide walked us out through the door at the other end; it was the Roman colosseum of Palmyra – stunningly beautiful. After some background information and taking some rest from that heat of the sun, the tourist guide took us back to the main market of the ancient city where it market the end of our tour. We walked together all the way back to the main gate where the car was parked.

The only thing we didn’t visit in the ancient city was the location of the tombs, which were closed for the public at that time of the day.

After the visit to the ancient city we brought back our guide near the temple (where he had his old motorcycle parked on the wall of an old house), and drove back to the main city. We stopped at a very nice restaurant with a very weird service: Anything we order we get the answer “sorry, we don’t have that anymore” We ended up ordering some water and we waited till around 4 PM, the time for the museum across the street to open. The museum contained wonderful artifacts of Palmyra, but best of all were the four mummies exhibited on the second floor. I wondered why all the fuzz on how Egyptians used to mummify their dead ones, while in this ancient city the same technique is used with similar rituals?! When we were back to the first floor a handsome man in his thirties wearing the museum uniform walked towards us and started voluntarily telling us about the new discoveries in Palmyra – including the first ever artifact of a wagon on it is the official stamp of Palmyra. It was very educative seeing knowing the custom of those ancient people to differentiate between the rich and the poor, even in the way they were buried and the location of their burial places that was based on their social class in society at that time.

We left Palmyra around 5 PM heading to Lattakia. We stopped on our way in Homs, a big city and very nice city – more organized and modern than Lattakia, in my opinion. We bought traditional Syrian sweets and more water and continued with our trip west to Lattakia.

Palmyra is enjoyable, maybe the help of the our tourist guide made it more fun to look at these ancient ruins while someone is telling the story of such ruins. Yet, there is still a lot of work to be done; a lot of money is needed to pour on discovering more of this historical city; there are many and many places still buried underneath heavy dust of nature and history, and this remains to be seen in the future is this beautiful ancient city would be the focus of government and other archaeological organizations.

George W Bush in Syria

This was taken from a building in a public neighborhood in Lattakia, done by some children is a picture of George W. Bush

In Syria

First of all, Ramadan Kareem for all Muslims. Second, I am doing great, I am now in Syria, writing this short post from an internet cafe. Internet Cafe's here are the only places where someone can get reasonable internet speed. Internet services for home users is available but they cost a lot of money, in addition of being unreliable, and extremly slow.

The country is rich with its wonderful history and very interesting traditions, and it contains many aspects of modern life equally to these seen in the west. That's why there are a lot of to tell about, which I found interesting and fun at the same time. I got annoyed and sometimes angry on a number of occasions, but that's the way in every country.

Anyway, this post is to thank everyone who sent me emails asking where did I disappear in the past two weeks.

There will be more to the story :)

Visa For Iraqis To The Netherlands

Why don't Dutch embassies - or any other embassy of any other country in the world - do one joint effort and put a big sign at their compounds' main gates, saying "No Visa for Iraqis"? This will really save a lot of time and energy for both the Iraqi who is applying for the visa and for the embassy employee. Most importantly, maybe for the Iraqi, it would save a lot of money! ...

Syria Looks

Syria looks is mainly a picture blog about everything beautiful in Syria. The one thing caught my eyes about this blog is how it has been organized based on the labels for each post, so anyone can imagine the amount this blog consists of.

There are many words I can describe this blog, but the one word flashes in my mind right now is "joyful". There is a feeling of peace in every picture, a sense of pride by this fellow blogger to reflect natural beauty of a country so rich with a lot of things; from history to religion, from simplicity of its buildings to vast landscapes consists of green and sand.

I felt sorry for finding out some broken links to some of the pictures, but that did not spoil anything, neither did the annoying pop ups - one time an advert about the next Spice Girls concert in London and another time offering discounts on GSM! I still enjoyed my stay at Syria looks.

Final word, this blog is a must for anyone like to know about Syria! Don't watch a lot of media, don't get dragged on to politics about the middle east, this blog can serve as a great source of information, and fun!

The link here